Identifying and Advocating Best Practices in the Criminal Justice System. A Texas-Centric Examination of Current Conditions, Reform Initiatives, and Emerging Issues with a Special Emphasis on Capital Punishment.

Monday, 08 September 2014

Colorado Roundup

With the death penalty having become an issue in the governor's race, it's worth contrasting these cases and asking ourselves, as Coloradans, which choice makes the most sense.

Is it worth pursuing the death penalty in a few select cases knowing it will postpone justice literally for years, cost many times the alternative of life without parole, and, given the appeals, won't actually resolve the murderer's fate for decades even if a jury agrees to the ultimate penalty?

Or should we embrace the opportunity for relatively quick pleas that ensure the killer will never walk again as a free man?

Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez challenged Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper to answer whether he intends to grant clemency to a death-row inmate before Hickenlooper leaves office, prompting one of the liveliest exchanges during their first debate Saturday.

"I have no plan to revisit my decision, so my decision stands," Hickenlooper said. He added: "The government shouldn't be in the business of taking people's lives."

Republicans have blasted Hickenlooper in ads for his decision to grant an indefinite reprieve to Nathan Dunlap, who was convicted of killing four people at an Aurora Chuck E. Cheese's restaurant.

The documentary did not include Gov. John Hickenlooper's clemency comments — which were obtained by a political blogger through an open-records request for the interview recording — though it did outline how the case has become a political talking point in this year's gubernatorial election. Hickenlooper told CNN he could grant Dunlap clemency if he is not re-elected in November.

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The StandDown Texas Project

The StandDown Texas Project was organized in 2000 to advocate a moratorium on executions and a state-sponsored review of Texas' application of the death penalty.
To stand down is to go off duty temporarily, especially to review safety procedures.

Steve Hall

Project Director Steve Hall was chief of staff to the Attorney General of Texas from 1983-1991; he was an administrator of the Texas Resource Center from 1993-1995. He has worked for the U.S. Congress and several Texas legislators. Hall is a former journalist.